Harry, The Stranger and The Urn of Villeous.5 / 8
by mveela
Summary: It's time to take action. Harry and Ron begin their search. Are they going to find anything. It has mystery, adventure, and drama.


  
  
A/N: All the important characters belong to J.K. Rowling. The rest of the characters belong to me.   
Got a couple of emails telling me to split it up into smaller pieces. So here it goes  
__You have four ways to read this story:  
1- You can read . The Stranger Within, and The Return of the Stranger. Then read this story  
2- You can read this story by itself. As a stand-alone piece. Then read the other two.  
3- You can read the first chapter then go back and read The Return of the Stranger, then Read The Stranger Within. And then read the rest of this story.  
4- If you have read The Stranger Within and The Return of the Stranger. You can skip to chapter 2 and read from there on. Not a great idea but you can.  
  
Please R/R. Good or Bad. Just be constructive. Let me know what you think of my style. And if I should write some more. All feedback is appreciated. Thank you for the reviews.  
  
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HARRY, THE STRANGER AND THE URN OF VILLEOUS  
  
CHAPTER 5  
  
  
Harry and Ron apparated in front of Sirius house early the next morning, they knock, and Harry's Godfather open the door upon seeing Ron and Harry said " I'm glad you took my letter seriously, and the two of you decided to come. Harry, Ron come on in boys."  
  
They both went in and sat down. Harry started. " Sirius, I don't want you to worry, will look at what ever you think is wrong, and will take care of it. I promise you. Even though I find it hard to believe, there is much truth in the gossip of a town."  
  
"Harry this different, is not just one thing, is a number of them, two days ago, one of my best customers and someone that I have known for a long time, and Elixa, Remus wife, also knows him quite well. He is very trustworthy, and not apt to blow things out of proportion, or make things up."  
  
Ron said " How about, if I make us all some tea, and you start at the beginning and tell us what is going on. Or at least what you know. "  
  
" I'm sorry boys. You are right, is just, that I don't think we a lot time to spare"  
  
Harry and Sirius talked for a few minutes about, Remus and Elixa and how they where doing, also about how well the bookstore was doing, and some of the plans, that he had for the future. Also how well the catalogs had worked out.   
  
The idea of having a catalog had been Al's idea. While he had been in India, almost a year ago. Al had stop by to see him, he was going to buy some rugs, at least that is what he told Harry. He had mention to Al about the store, that Sirius and Remus had set up. And Al had said why don't they get some catalogs printed, send them out, and then have the books delivered, and with each delivery you send them a new catalog. It was done in the muggle world all the time, and for those wizards that where living in remote areas or had difficulty apparating, it could be the perfect solution. They can become the Sears's catalog of the wizarding world. Harry had no idea who Sears was. But he told Sirius, and he thought it was a clever idea. so they started sending out a few catalogs every month, in just a year, it had become a very large part of their business. Sirius told Harry they where up to five owls, and where considering getting one more. " The next one has to be one of those large eagle owls, some people send the order back as soon as they get the catalog, and they order four and five books at a time."  
  
Ron finally came back with the tea, and a plate of muffins.  
  
" Sirius, I didn't have breakfast and I saw the muffins, I hope you don't mind."  
  
" Ron, think of this as your house, you don't have ask me for anything, actually thank you for getting them, I didn't eat much last night and I'm filling kind of hungry. I feel a lot better knowing that you boys are here."  
  
They all sat down, and Sirius began to tell them, what he thought was going on.  
  
" Ever since I moved here, the people around town always said, that several Death Eaters, had moved here after the end of Voldemort, and some others after the last attempt on the Ministry. Basically, the ones that no one knew about, and some of the ones that just got away. Some live in town, but most live in Upper Forkridge, most of them you never see, and the rest rarely come down. Then you also have a group that may not have followed Voldemort, but still practice Dark Magic, I'm sure most actually did both. But lately, some new people have arrived. They come to town, go into one or two shops, but they rarely talk to anyone. You always see them in-groups of two, or three. And the word around town the last few weeks was, that they where gathering to do something, but no one knew what. In a couple of occasions some strangers have come into the store to buy some older, books usually spell books. That in itself is not strange, I have plenty of wizards, that buy old potion, and spell books, even some that we might consider, fall in the black magic area, or even the Dark Arts."  
  
Harry interrupted him. " Sirius, this is no different, than what you have told me before. I have studied several books that are only good for the Black Arts, yet I would never use them for evil. And you even carry some books, regularly in the store, that we could consider borderline. Just cause someone has an interest in the Dark Arts does not mean they are practitioners, we had some at Hogwarts that are questionable.  
  
"I know Harry, but listen. Here is the part that I fear. About ten days ago, I was going home just walking down the street minding my own business, and I saw two people that I thought where in Azkaban, they where accused, but the charges it turns out, where never proven, I'm talking about Salmo Cruento, and Lexx Gronios. Harry I know this two, they do not have a single good bone in their body. They have always been practitioners of the Dark Arts, they followed Voldemort but always thought of themselves just as good, or maybe I should say, as bad as him. Then about a week ago, Elixa over heard two people talking about the Latrocium Malmoral, that the meeting was going to be the next day. Harry do you know what that means.?"  
  
" I have heard of the name, but that was, four hundred years, maybe five hundred years ago. Maybe they are just celebrating his birthday, or the day of his demise. There is no excuse for bad taste, but is not a crime. It doesn't mean anything."  
  
" Harry, what is the Ltrucion Malmorel " asked Ron  
  
" I think we are talking about Duke Lantos Malmoral, he was the Voldemort of his day. He had a secret spell that could turn wizards into trolls, you either joined him or a troll you became. He was supposed, to have been the biggest thread to the ministry, until Voldemort came along. I spended a short time with Master Sven Unther, in Norway about three years ago, and he is the one that told me about him. He knew quite a bit about that part of our history, he also taught some very interesting spells and counter spells. That has nothing to do with Duke Lantos Malmoral, it is one of those events in history that the Ministry tries to keep secret. From what he told me, it led to the troll rebellion, and to the expulsion of trolls. Is the reason they are no longer members of the wizarding world. After a couple of years, The Duke was captured, and was burned, and his ashes where placed in the Urn of Villeous. If I remember right. But is all speculation, no one knows for sure. I do not think anyone has ever found, or even knows if the Urn actually existed."  
  
" and who is Latricion"  
  
" Latrocium, it just means Gang of. I think this people, are just full of themselves"  
  
Sirius was looking at Harry with tears in his eyes, he had become a man, he still use to think of him at times, as the little boy that just wanted to go live with him. He was not a little boy anymore, his godson was probably the most able wizard in the world, even Dumbledore would probably agree with that." Harry, I should have called you first, you seem to know more about this, than anyone else. It took me five days just to find a reference to Malmoral and another whole day to find out who he was."  
  
" Sirius .please. I quess all those years studying during My Quest for Enlightenment, was not a complete waste of time." He said it with a smile  
  
." But still it doesn't mean anything."  
  
Sirius Continued." Two days ago, Elmer Brex, have you ever met him.?"  
  
"Actually, I know him, he is a friend of my dad." Answered Ron.  
  
"That's right, he worked for the Ministry for a number of years. Well he is book collector and is always buying old books, and also knows a lot of other wizards like him, and he even knows some muggles that are collectors. He came into the shop all concerned and worried because a muggle he knew, had a very old book stolen. This man is one of those collectors that will get a book, no matter what the cost, and doesn't care where they come from. The book that was stolen was the- Liber Holocaustum Reduco Abeo Carneus-."  
  
Harry, pulled himself up from the chair, and said " Is he positive, it was that book, That is suppose to be one of the lost books."  
  
" I know, I asked the same thing, he told me this guy has had it for years, but he is one of those collectors, that never sells books, and Elmer figure if he ever died, he could go in, and get it, look at one more time and destroy it, he just wanted to put it off as long as possible. If you love something, you do not want to destroy it, and Elmer loves books. The reason he told me Harry, was for me to tell you. He didn't know what someone could want with the book, but what ever it is, it cannot be good."  
  
Ron had no idea, what they where talking about, so he asked Harry." Do you know what Sirius, is talking about with that book. And what has the book, got to do with the other people you saw in town"  
  
" Ron, it literally means, Offering, to Bring Back The Nonliving Flesh , or to bring back the dead.  
  
Ron thought about the words." Holocaustom= offering, Carneus= Made of flesh. But still this has nothing to do with the strangers, or those other two you saw."  
  
" I know, but what happens if it's all related. What could they be up to." said Sirius.  
  
" I wonder if they could have found, the ashes of Duke Malmoral, and are trying to bring him back. I cannot believe they could be trying that." Answered Harry.  
  
" Harry, the wizards that get involved in the Dark Arts, are in many cases capable and willing to do just about anything. You should know that better than anyone." Said Sirius.  
  
" Well the only thing , I can think of doing is to poke around, and see what we find. Maybe Ron can check on one side of town, and I can check on the other. That way we can cover a lot of ground quickly."  
  
" Harry, people are going to know who you are. And if anything is going on, is happening in Upper Forkridge, I do not think anything is going on in town."  
  
" Well Sirius, I think is time to put the invisibility cloak to good use again. Ron do you think the two of us can still fit under it, after all these years.?"  
  
" I think we can both still fit, I just don't think anyone is going to recognize me, So why don't you use the cloak, and I'll walk around without it, and that way will cover twice the ground. Let's say, we meet back here around, four or five. And if we don't find anything during the day, will search at night." Ron speculated.  
  
They all agreed that was the best way. Harry asked Sirius to ask Elixa if she could think of anyone that could help. Sirius told Harry he would talk to Elixa to see if she could think, of anybody in town who might know something, or someone that she thought might be involved." We have talked about it before, and she has told me she did not, but I'll ask again." They decided to meet at the house instead of the bookstore. The fewer people that know what we are trying to do, or trying to find out, the better.  
  
" Harry, I hope you are right, and is just me being paranoid, and seen Death Eaters every where."  
  
" A friend gave some advice once. He said, always be prepared for the worst, and you will never be surprised."Harry mentioned, as he was walking out.  
  
" That sounds, like something Al would have said, when we where at Hogwarts." Ron muttered.  
  
" And you would be right, my redheaded friend, isn't that what he always told you."  
  
" I should have eaten the last muffin, I don't know how I'm going to make it, until five without eating. Maybe I can pop into town for lunch, just for a few minutes, and then keep looking. How far is Upper Forkridge, have you ever gone into that part of town.?  
  
Harry, told Ron to eat when ever he got hungry, he didn't think they would find anything, specially during the day." Tonight might be a different story, a new moon starts tonight. And if Sirius is right about the book. we might have a long night. So make sure you have a good lunch and a good dinner."  
  
Harry slipped the cloak on, and started walking up the road. Ron went a bit further west and took the next road. Neither one of them was sure what to look for, or who to look for.  
  
Ron, started to plan, what his cover was going to be, if someone asked who he was. He decided to tell people, he was just looking for a quiet place to settle down, that he wanted to do some research in Herbology, and had been told this was a good town, and that no one bother you, no matter what you did. Ron figured if, I can act like I'm hiding something, maybe they will believe, I could be one of them. He knew he could talk about Herbology, and he could talk about potions. He even knew a few, that would be right in line with the one's a practitioner of the Dark Arts, would prepare. He was wearing a dark gray robe, it had a hood, so he just pulled it, over his head, and started walking, towards Upper Forkridge.  
  
Ron did not have to walk very far once he got into the Upper Forkridge area, to begin to find homes. They seemed like normal homes, most of them where small, usually one story, the lots looked also about the same, a fair amount of trees, and homes nestled in between them. Some had huge front doors, that would remind you of a castle, but the house was very small, others had turrets, not all where rectangular, or square some where round, and some had a round part with a square part attached to it. The colors where normal, some where green,or purple, one was pink with a yellow roof, no different than any other wizarding home. He saw that greenhouses where common, this would make his search that much easier, and he was certain that his idea of the Herbology cover, would work. He saw small children, in a couple of the homes, they had toy brooms, and where flying around their yard, and even saw one child, with a toy car, that was flying about a foot off the ground. Dad, would love to have seen that, he told himself. But how was he going to spot, if anything was wrong. He was going to have to, get closer to the homes, maybe look inside, ask a few questions. Should he, bring up Malmorals name. That may not not be a good idea, yet what else could he say. He had met a few Death Eaters over the years, they would spot him if they where here. Well his story, about looking for a place would still hold, what could they say. And if they tried anything, he could defend himself. He never told any one in his family, but he had taken a couple of classes of Defense Against the Dark Arts, while he was at The Academy, Harry was not the only one who could fight The Dark Forces, he knew quite a bit, about spells and charms, a lot of things went into studying Herbology. It was not just, how to take care of plants, and what to do with them.  
  
At the next house he saw a witch, doing some work on her garden. Ron decided to approach her, and see what he could find out.  
  
" Hello, how are you doing today" Ron started.  
  
" I was wondering if maybe, you could help me. I'm thinking about moving into the area, and I thought you might know some of your neighbors, and you could tell me, what you think about the neighborhood. Is it nice, is it very noisy, do people make a lot of trouble. Do they mind neighbors, that work at night" Ron was running out of things to ask, but the woman was not saying anything, she was just looking at him, she had not moved since he had started talking to her. He finally asked her " Are you OK. do you understand Me.?"  
  
She said " Yes " and went back to doing what ever it was she was doing in her yard.  
  
Ron noticed that she was planting, some nectar tubers, next to a patch of endless parsley. " I hope you know, that is not a good idea. The nectar tubers will absorb the coloring from the parsley, and also some of the taste, nectar tubers, should be planted at least a foot away from any other plant."  
  
" Is that why, the ones I planted next to some beets last year, turned purple.? " she asked without turning around.  
  
" That's right, you can plat them next to a tree, just like that elm you got, nothing will happen, because the roots for the elm are deep, just make sure you give them lots of water, almost every day, during the summer. They will keep during the winter, but they will not grow as much, but will not need that much water, and they will not be as sweet, as the summer batch. But you can grow them all year. I will more than glad, to help you plant them underneath the elm tree."  
  
" That's OK. I can manage, I don't need help. You know a lot about plants."  
  
" That's why I want to move to this area, I want to do some work, with ...I shouldn't tell you, but some of the plants I want to work with, have fallen out of favor with The Ministry, if you know what I mean."  
  
Ron wanted to sound, like he was planning, on doing something illegal, he was not sure if it would work, but it was worth a shot.  
  
" I keep to myself, I don't care what others do. I'm not like that new bunch, at the end of the road. That are always getting together and looking for new... , it doesn't matter to me what you do."  
  
Ron realized she was going to say something, but she stopped herself. He figured he was not going to get anything else out of her. She just seemed the kind that wanted to live alone, and not be bother by others, but was not a part of any group. He said good bye.  
  
And went up the road looking for the house at the end of the road, the old witch had mentioned. He ran into a few other homes just like before, but no one was outside. A couple of them, where close to the road, so Ron attempted to look inside of the windows, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. In one he saw an old wizard reading a copy of the Daily Prophet, and in another a young mother with two small children, trying to give them breakfast, and telling them, if they didn't eat she was going to tell their father as soon as he got home, and she pointed to the clock that read- Work-. It was a clock like the one his mother had in the kitchen.  
  
He was going to have to talk to more people, so far, he had not done very well. I'm a lousy spy. He told himself. Then as he turn down a short alley that had a couple homes in it, he saw a young woman walking out of her house, broom in hand, getting ready to leave. He ran up to catch her before she left.  
  
" Hi there, how are you ?"  
  
" I'm fine, how about you."  
  
" Just fine, thank you. Is just that I was walking around the neighborhood, just looking around. I'm thinking of moving into the area. I have not seen anyone, I was on my way to the house at the end of the road. but I wanted to.."  
  
The woman interrupted Ron. " You are on your way to Salmos place. "  
  
Ron was not sure what to say, but he said. " Yes, just got here, I'm looking forward to moving ."  
  
" Are you going to be there tonight. "She asked  
  
" Yes , of course I'm going to be there. "  
  
" You seemed very young, have you known Salmo long.?"  
  
" A friend told me about him, and send me to meet him." If they say anything I, will just tell them the old woman told me to see him, if I wanted to learn about the neighborhood.  
  
She just stopped asking questions, and said. " Is going to be an exciting night, for the Latrocium. "  
  
Ron had hit the jackpot, he wanted to throw his hand up in the air, but he just said. "Long live the Duke."  
  
" You are right. Forgive me , but I have to go. I will see you tonight." got on her broom and left.  
  
Ron thought, well I'm done. I can go back to town and have lunch, and then just wait for Harry, and tell him. Oh Harry, so you didn't find anything out, I on the other hand know where the meeting is, and it is tonight. This was not good news, this was not the time for a petty rivalry, between him and Harry, Sirius had been right, and something was going to happen tonight. Harry thought it could be tonight. I have to get to town, to let Sirius know. But I can still get some lunch.  
  
Harry on the other hand had no luck at all, he spended all day going, from house to house, listening to what they had to say, but could not find any information at all. He did find a couple of homes, that had charms protecting them, and one that was cursed. All rather simple to break. no one was home at any of this homes, so Harry couldn't figure out what they where trying to protect. He looked in some of the covers and drawers but found nothing. The homes he did go in, with people in them, did not yield any results either, mostly wizards and witches, cooking or reading, some answering their mail, and other just talking to their husbands, or wives, or some to their neighbors. But for the most part, the people that where home, seem to be looking just be alone, and not be bother, with what ever could be going on.  
  
It was a bit before four, that Harry decided to go back to town, and see Sirius and tell him, he had found nothing, and him and Ron would try again that evening. If we, do not find anything tonight, I will try tomorrow just in case. He told himself. He did not like, what his Godfather had told him about the book, he knew what was in that book, or at least he thought he knew, what was suppose to be in that book. No one should have that much power.  
  
Harry got to his godfathers house, and found Ron, Sirius, Remus and Elixa waiting for him.  
  
"We where getting worried about you, If you had not come in by five, we where going to go get you. I still have a good sense of smell, you know." Sirius said half jokingly.  
  
" I have to tell you, I did not find anything."  
  
" But, I did " Replied Ron.  
  
Ron explained to Harry what he founded, and that something important was going to take place that night.  
  
They all agreed to go to Salmo Cruento's house that night, Harry and Ron would use the invisibility cloak, and Sirius would go as a dog. Remus and Elixa where to remain behind, and if by any chance they did not come back by morning; for them to get a hold of Hermione, and The Ministry and tell them what was going on, or at least inform them that something could be going on.  
  
Harry was hoping that all they would find, would a celebration of some kind, no matter how misguided, or in poor taste. But nothing do to with the book and Duke Lantos Malmoral.   
  
The possibility that someone had the book that could bring people back to life, was not something he wanted to consider. The three things that humans had always looked for, endless wealth, eternal life, and the resurrection of those that have died. He had dealt with eternal life his second year at Hogwarts and now the resurrection of the dead; why?  
  
Ron told Harry it would not take them that long to get there, if they just went straight up the road .  
  
"Look, we are going after dark, lets not put the cloak on until we get close to the house, that way we can make better time, plus Sirius can just come with us, and it will look like we are just taking the dog out for a walk."  
  
Both Harry and Sirius thought that would be the best way, and that right after dark, they would head out.  
  
  
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A/N: You can always read the whole thing at once. It is posted as one story.  
Please review. I want to know how I'm doing. without feedback it's hard to tell. I can take it. But be constructive.  



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